Organisational culture that promotes mental health

As an employer, you have a big impact on your culture

As an employer, you play a key role in building your organisational culture. An organisational culture that promotes mental health is a prerequisite for you to implement values and structures that promote mental health. Organisational culture allows you to increase work resources, implement timely support for work ability and support returning to work.

Build open-minded organisational culture based on trust

Strive to build an organisational culture that permits emotions, adversities and difficulties. Make sure that it is totally acceptable to ask for support in difficult situations with a low threshold. Make it easy for your employees to seek help from occupational health services or somewhere else outside your workplace. Remember, however, that even when your employees receive outside help, the measures carried out at the workplace are also important.

Employee, read more about early support

Accept fluctuations in work ability

Awareness of mental health symptoms and disorders is increasing, both in working life and, more generally, in society. Thanks to this, your employees may also feel more comfortable talking about them. Nevertheless, many people choose not to tell others about their problems because they feel ashamed or afraid of being labelled as weak or weird.

Your distressed employee may try to soldier on and hide their symptoms to ignore them. It is very common that they do not fully acknowledge or understand their symptoms and how they affect their behaviour, work performance and interactions. Masking symptoms is problematic especially if your culture emphasises top performance, a positive attitude, cheerfulness and coping.

Ensure work is discussed

A good indicator of a healthy organisational culture is the possibility to openly discuss all aspects of work. Promote open and forthright discussions through setting a good example, encouraging your employees to express their opinions and views and, above all, listening and reacting to raised issues.

A part of openness is that the employee can themselves regulate their privacy. You cannot require the employee to reveal every aspect of their private life. You can, however, encourage discussion and try to enable discussing work-related matters with you without reservations.

A good workplace atmosphere and culture do not mean that you always have to agree on everything. Strive instead to make it possible to handle and resolve disagreements and issues. If not in a way that makes everyone happy, then at least in a way that everyone can sufficiently commit to.